Review: The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski

The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Okay, I am going to be honest here and it is probably going to make some people gasp, but I liked the NetFlix series better. The NetFlix Series was pretty close to this book, except for the Ciri parts, which were not in the book and with the exception of one single story. Normally, I much prefer the books to the movies, mainly because we get better characterizations and with a book, we are getting only one persons vision of the story, where are in movies we are seeing the vision of the screenwriter, director, the producer, the actors, etc. In this case, having seen the show first, I noticed the flaws in the book, that were not there in the story.

First off, this is a good, almost great fantasy novel, Geralt is not a pretty man, but truly a world weary soldier who does what he does simply because he knows no other way, Yennifer verges on being a villain in her own right and Dandelion is the best best friend Geralt could ask for. These characters are intense, well written and play off of each other masterfully. The book itself is more of a series of loosely told short stories, basically giving us the backstory for the later series. It is well put together and entertaining.

My problem with the book is more technical than anything else. As I read the book, I had this feeling that something was lost in translation, that it would have somehow been much better had I read it in its original Klingon. The translation was not perfect, there seemed to be places where the sentences were not quit right, odd words being used slightly out of context, minor things like that. I think some people would tell me this was just his writing style or a way to differ speech in this fantasy world, but it really did not feel that way to me.

Overall, a good read, if you liked the show, you will like this book. If you hated the show, you will hate this book. I suggest reading the book before before seeing the show. I would definitely suggest this book to any who like high fantasy stories.

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